When Indianapolis Star reporter David Lindquist wrote about the plans for a mural of former Indiana Pacer Reggie Miller on "The Mich" building at 127 E. Michigan St. in September, he noted that the building had been moved to its current location in 1926 to make way for the Indiana War Memorial Plaza.

That move was featured in a video compilation of Indianapolis shot by Indianapolis photographer and videographer Harry Humbert Coburn, who also was displaced by the plaza construction. The film was later reproduced and distributed by the Indiana State Library.

The few minutes of film, which shows the Herculean effort and ingenuity used by man and beast, does the move more justice than any story could tell. Nevertheless, here goes.

When the plans were established for the plaza in 1921, 45 buildings in a five-block area between Meridian, St. Clair, Pennsylvania and New York streets were tagged for demolition to make room for the $15,000,000 complex to honor Indiana’s veterans and their role in the nation's conflicts. The plaza would include the War Memorial, Cenotaph Square and headquarters of the American Legion.

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The demolition of buildings on the east side of Meridian Street looking north from Michigan Street made way for Veteran's Memorial Plaza, under construction in Downtown Indianapolis on Feb. 11, 1927. Also under construction was the Scottish Rite Cathedral.(Photo: Indianapolis Star)

Two churches, Second Presbyterian Church, at Vermont and Pennsylvania streets, and First Baptist Church, at Vermont and Meridian streets, were allowed to stay in their location. Both churches were razed in 1960, however, after their congregations moved to new locations.

By 1926, work on the plaza began and the area was a frenzy of demolition. Homes, apartment buildings, hotels, businesses and manufacturers were appraised and purchased by the city and demolished — well, most of them. Crowds gathered daily to watch, as massive structures, not homes, were literally picked up and moved to a new location.

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The Haugh Hotel before being moved to its new location in 1926.(Photo: Indianapolis Star)

Indianapolis was experiencing a housing boom in the 1920s. Apartments were a hot commodity and rather than tackle the expense of construction, Z.B Hunt purchased the six-story 1917 Haugh Hotel at 11 E. Michigan St. and moved it to 127 E. Michigan Street.

The process took three months, but the seemingly impossible movement of the building by Pittsburgh’s Kress-Oravetz House Moving Co. lasted three weeks.

Not only was the hotel moved, but because of its length, it had to be rotated one quarter to face east, moved down the road, turned again and backed into its new location. Streetcar wires on Pennsylvania Street had to be cut.

It was estimated that the building weighed nearly 30,000 tons. It was lifted by 650 giant 50-ton screw jacks. The actual raising was accomplished by turning the jacks with steel handles. On a full turn, each jack rose five-eighths of an inch until the required height was reached.

The structure was lifted in such a way that it would not slip or topple or the walls would not be cracked.

Once lifted, steel supports were placed under the building in a criss-cross pattern and beams the width of the building were put in place. Wooden railroad ties and rails were laid and steel rollers were placed on top of them. Using winches and horse teams, the building was pulled up on the rollers. There were 12 rails and more than 500 rollers used. The building was moved at a rate of 10 to 15 feet an hour.

When it reached its destination, the building it was rolled onto a new foundation and lowered into place — at a cost of $50,000. Once in place, the Haugh Hotel became the Michigan Apartments.

The Cambridge Apartments, formerly on the southwest corner of Pennsylvania and Michigan streets, was moved to the northwest corner of Delaware and North streets.

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The three-story Cambridge apartment house is rotated to be moved from Pennsylvania and Michigan to its new home at Delaware and North streets in 1926.(Photo: Indianapolis Star)

The State Automobile Insurance Association purchased the vacated Bobbs-Merrill building at 32 E. Vermont St. and moved it to 122 E. Michigan St. Indiana University later purchased the building to house the Indianapolis Center and the School of Social Work. That building was later razed to construct the Minton-Capehart Federal Building.

The same method used to move those building was utilized again in 1929, when the eight-story 11,000-ton Indiana Bell building was moved 52 feet south along Meridian Street and rotated 90 degrees to face New York Street.

Construction for the Indiana War Memorial finally began in 1927.

Gen. John “Blackjack” Pershing, leader of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I, laid the cornerstone on July 4. (There is a portrait of Pershing inside the memorial.)

Due to funding delays, however, work either slowed or stopped, and the building wasn't completed until 1965.

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On a sunny, but cold, afternoon in February 1923, pedestrians scurried across Meridian Street in this midday view looking north from Washington Street. Proper winter attire included long, black coats and hats for everyone Ð men, women and children alike. IndyStar file, UNKNOWN STAR

Young women did interpretive dancing around the Depew Memorial Fountain in University Park on April 21, 1926, marking the 10th anniversary of the fountain. Gardeners in the park dropped their trowels and dozens of heads popped into view in windows at the north side of the old Federal Building to observe. The dancers were members of the Albertina Rasch ballet appearing at Keith's Theater that week. Indianapolis Star

The Indianapolis Star building Feb. 4, 1928 at the corner of Pennsylvania and New York Street. The truck on the New York Street side is delivery rolls of paper. The papers would be rolled on to a street elevator and lowered to the basement of the building where the presses were housed. Indianapolis Star photo

A column of 15,000 Civil War veterans parade down West Washington Street during the 54th Encampment of the G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) in Indianapolis on Sept. 22, 1920. Marching tunes of the Civil War were played all along the line. It was estimated that 100,000 visitors were in the city. The spectators numbered between 75,000-90,000. file

The demolition of buildings on the east side of Meridian Street looking north from Michigan Street made way for Veteran's Memorial Plaza, under construction in Downtown Indianapolis on Feb. 11, 1928. The old Indiana School for the Blind, shown in the background at right (facing North Street), eventually met a similar fate years later. This area became part of a five-block civic plaza from New York Street on the south to St. Clair Street on the north, incorporating University Park, the Indiana World War Memorial, Obelisk Square and the American Legion Mall. Work on the World War Memorial, on the south side of Michigan Street, began early in 1926. The block shown here is now Obelisk Square, completed in 1930, featuring a 100-foot-tall pillar faced in granite and surrounded by a fountain. IndyStar file

Photographers used bulky cameras on tripods to record ceremonies marking the cornerstone laying of the Indiana World War Memorial on July 4, 1927. The color guard is facing north. Indianapolis News photo

New home of the Day Nursery on Lockerbie Street, photographed in November 1926. In 1927, the nursery moved to this site. A group of privileged women felt the need to offer day care services for poor women. Indianapolis News photo

Aviator Charles A. Lindbergh (left), who in 1927 became the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, paid an unexpected visit to Indianapolis on Thursday, Jan. 17, 1929. He dropped by the GovernorÕs Mansion on Fall Creek Boulevard to congratulate Indiana Gov. Harry G. Leslie, who took office just three days prior. Lindbergh, 26, arrived in town on Wednesday afternoon, spent the night at the Lincoln Hotel, then arose at 5 a.m. on Thursday. From then until shortly after 9 a.m., he walked unescorted and unnoticed along Downtown streets, enshrouded in heavy fog. Lindbergh was making a cross-country inspection of proposed airports on a coast-to-coast 24-hour air-rail service that was to be inaugurated April 1 of that year. One of those airports was IndianapolisÕ Mars Hill airport, which was to be used temporarily as a stopping point for the new service. Indianapolis News photo

Concrete walls contain Fall Creek as it flows underneath the Meridian Street bridge in this view looking southwest towards downtown on May 28, 1928. In those days, this stretch of Meridian Street was a residential neighborhood graced with beautiful trees and inviting sidewalks. Indianapolis News photo

The Athenaeum was constructed for the Socialer Turnverein Aktien- Gesellschaft (Social Gymnastic Society Stock Association), as it was called when founded in 1892 to raise money to build a home for the Sozialer Turnverein and other liberal German societies of Indianapolis. Originally called Das Deutsche Haus, the building was constructed in two phases, the east wing in 1893-1894 and the west wing in 1897-1898. It was renamed Aathenaeum in response to anti-German sentiment during World War I. Photo taken January 1929 IndyStar file

The Better Babies building at the Indiana State Fair in 1926. Sponsored by the Child Hygiene division of the State Board of Health. In 1921, under the guise of raising healthy and happy children, the Eugenics movement started Better babies contests which were held at county fairs and the Indiana State Fair. But it was merely insuring that Hoosiers were breeding the healthiest and most desirable human beings. Indiana State Board of Health

Scottish Rite Cathedral ----July 26, 1929. The Scottish Rite Cathedral, completed in 1929, is the world's largest and cost $2.5 million to build. located at 650 Meridian st., the entire structure is laid out in multiples of 33 feet, symbolizing the 33 years of Jesus Christ's life. IndyStar file, FILE

D. C. Stephenson, grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK or K.K.K.), receives a life sentence for his role in the death of Irvington's Madge Oberholtzer, whom he brutally raped. His trial was held in Noblesville. On Nov. 14, 1925, the jury produced its verdict: Guilty. IndyStar file, FILE

Indianapolis' Tomlinson Hall (left) had served the city as a public meeting hall for over 40 years when this picture was taken in the late 1920s. The view, looking north across the lawn of the old Marion County Courthouse, also shows the City Market at right. On the night of Jan. 30, 1958 the structure caught fire, illuminating the downtown area as flames climbed hundreds of feet into the air. The historic hall was razed six months later. A single doorway arch facing east is all that stands today in the market's courtyard (visible here in the lower right hand corner of the hall, where it attached to the City Market). Photo by unidentified Indianapolis News photographer, circa 1929 Indianapolis News photo

Indianapolis Fire Department Station 7 and Fire Headquarters, at the corner of New York and Alabama Streets, July 24, 1922. The building opened at 301 East New York Street February 1914. It was closed as a fire station June 1, 1979. IndyStar file

The Adolph Scherrer designed Indianapolis Maennerchor Hall at the corner of Illinois and Michigan streets in 1926. During World War I, they renamed the building as the Academy of Music in response to the anti-German sentiment. The Maennerchor was a group of German immigrants who met to perform songs of the fatherland and until mid-2018 was the oldest continuously existing male chorus in the United States Indianapolis Star file, Indianapolis Star file

This is a view of Washington Street looking east from Capitol in early 1929. The Capitol Theater (left center) was on the N.E. corner adjoined by the Indiana Theater (white facade). The Claypool Hotel was next to that situated on the N.W. corner of Illinois and Washington Streets IndyStar file

1928 Indianapolis Star file photo of Riverside Amusement Park. The carousel to the left with the roller rink behind it (also served as the dance hall) The roller coaster and the aerial swing and the Dutch windmill. IndyStar file

Shown here in 1923, long after it closed, the Empire Theater at Wabash and Talbott streets, was the only burlesque theater in Indiana during its heyday from 1892 to 1915. During its last couple of years it was re-named the Columbia Theater. In the 1920s it was converted into one of the city's first multi-floor parking garages. IndyStar file, Star file photo

Scouting organizations (Boy Scouts, Campfire Girls and Girl Scouts) gave drinks of water to the Civil War veterans parading through Indianapolis at the encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic held in Indianapolis on Sept. 28, 1921. Water tapped from a barrel was handed to the elderly veterans of the Civil War. Indianapolis News photo

Second Presbyterian Church and First Baptist Church on March 24, 1929. ?Both churches flanked the Indiana War Memorial and the congregations eventually moved to the suburbs. Both churches were demolished in 1960. IndyStar file, FILE

Aerial of Indiana War Memorial and University Park. Crowd is gathered on north side of War memorial listening to John J. Pershing speak during the cornerstone ceremony on July 4, 1927, saying he was "consecrating the edifice as a patriotic shrine". IndyStar file, FILE

A track meet in 1926 attracted large crowds to Arsenal Technical High School. Opened in 1912 (officially designated as the city's third high school in 1916) as a manual and technical training school, it expanded its curriculum during the 1920s and, by 1930, had 242 teachers and 6,000 students. State track meets were held at Tech beginning in 1922, but the meets moved to Butler University in 1937. Indianapolis News photo

Indianapolis Mayor John Duvall in 1927. With backing from the Ku Klux Klan, he won the election in 1925. His downfall would come during the trial of D.C.Stephenson, which exposed widespread political corruption and the KKK. IndyStar file, FILE

This horse drawn lighting patrol was still in existence in Indianapolis in 1921 when this photo was taken. In the background is the Chas. L. Riddle Co., Inc., which sold various supplies and fixtures, including automobile tires and electric lighting fixtures. IndyStar file, FILE

Race fans being herded like cattle head into the infield at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway shortly after the gates opened at 6 a.m. on May 30, 1923. Males weren't considered properly dressed without sporting caps or hats. Many even wore white shirts and ties. IndyStar file,

Indianapolis took on a bit more of an international look in 1929 when St. Joan of Arc Roman Catholic Church built a new Roman basilica-style stone church at the corner of 42nd and Central streets. The new building, with its distinctive 140-foot bell tower, shown here in December 1929, was for 20 years or more the largest and most affluent Roman Catholic parish on the city's Northside. IndyStar file,

Fred Duesenberg, veteran racing car manufacturer, pulls the pace car to the side of the track as famous war aviator Eddie Rickenbacker (at top) waved the racers away for the flying start of the Indianapolis 500 at 10 a.m. on May 30, 1923. This was the last race where the starter stood on the footbridge strung across the track -- it was replaced the following year by a starter's stand at the side of the straightaway. Ray D. Casey/Indianapolis News,

]A record-breaking crowd filled the grandstands and swarmed around their automobiles parked trackside along the infield facing the main straightaway as the starting field was moved into position for the 1927 Indianapolis 500-Mile-Race. STAR/NEWS PHOTOGRAPHERS

1928 photo of the Indianapolis Central Library on land donated by James Whitcomb Riley at St. Clair between Pennsylvania and Meridian Streets.The building was designed by Philadelphia architect Paul Cret, and was designed in a Greek Doric style fashion and constructed of Indiana limestone. IndyStar file

The Park Theater on Washington and Capitol was the city's first building constructed as a theater (named the Metropolitan in 1858). In 1882 it became the Park Theatre, then the Lyceum in 1913, the Strand in 1916 and the Park again late in 1916. Detroit Publishing

Blocks' downtown store in 1929. Block's billed itself as "One of America's most beautiful stores." On Oct. 3, 1911, a new eight-story department store designed by Arthur John and Kurt Vonnegut Sr. opened at the southwest corner of Illinois and Market. In 1987, Federated Department Stores Inc., which owned Lazarus department stores acquired the 10-store Blocks chain and converted them to Lazarus stores a year later. In 1993, the Downtown Lazarus store closed. IndyStar file

15-story Lemke Annex (later the Consolidated Building) with the marquee for Keith's Theater in 1922. The theater was located behind the building off alley known as Wabash St. Indinapolis Star file photo

Indianapolis Fire Tower - members of the Smoke Abatement League watch from the fire tower on the Merchants Bank building. The league kept watch on pollution production in the city. 1929 file photo IndyStar file

Party-goers at the home of Carl and Jane Fisher line the deck of the FishersÕ glassed-in swimming pool in the summer of 1922. Jane Fisher spent afternoons between the hours of 3 and 6 oÕclock at home in her pool, Òa rendezvous for friends,Ó according to a news feature on popular swimming spots in Indianapolis. The snow-white basin filled with clear, cool water Òfairly magnetizes onlookers into diving in,Ó said the story. Indianapolis News photo

The Circle Theatre presented Richard Barthelmess and Dorothy Gish in the 1925 movie "The Beautiful City". The Bamboo Inn was housed in a small corner of the theater. Baldwin Pianos to the right of the theater and the Continental Bank Building which was built in 1923. - the building now houses IPL. IndyStar file

1925 file photo looking south at the corner of Ohio and Meridian Streets. Keene Drugs is to the left. The Soldiers and Sailors Monument and the English Hotel and Opera House at the corner of the circle and Meridian Street. The building to the far right is the Board of Education and the Public Library. IndyStar file

Southside Turners building at 306 Prospect Street, January 4, 1929. It opened in 1900 as an athletic club and closed in 1975. It features a gym on the upper floor. By 1976 it had no roof and all the windows were broken out. Tony Elrod and Rob Mercer renovated the building and it reopened in 1978 as the Madison Avenue Athletic Club, hosting amateur basketball games. IndyStar file

Built in 1923 by the firm of Vonnegut Bohn and Mueller, this Hebrew temple served the Beth-El congregation until 1958. The B'nai Torah occupied it until 1968 and then served as the home of three Christian churches. IndyStar file

Children's building at the Sunnyside Sanatorium in 1924. In 1917, City Hospital (later Wishard and now Eskenazi) opened the Sunnyside Sanitarium near Oaklandon to handle tuberculosis patients. Star file photo

In August 1928, young members of an Indianapolis "Our Gang" cast had high hopes of a Hollywood career during filming of a two-reel comedy called "The Pie Eating Champeens." Director Frank Melford, who had directed the popular Hal Roach comedies, brought a Hollywood cameraman and his assistant to Broad Ripple Park Indianapolis to do the filming. IndyStar file, Indianapolis News 1928 photo

Ft Wayne Avenue looking northeast from North St. Jan 1, 1929. The Metropolitan School of Museum and Odean Hall is at the right (this later became the Arthur Jordan Conservatory) This is now a parking lot. The building at the left is Schoen Bros. Cleaners. IndyStar file, Joe Vitti, Indianapolis Star

Girls seem to be having the time of their lives as they take a spin on the Maypole swing at the Willard Park playground in 1929. The park, located at 1901 E. Washington St., was named in 1908 for William Willard, the founder of the Indiana School for the Deaf, formerly located on the property. IndyStar

Promoted as Ò240 acres of happiness,Ó developer Carl Freyn opened the Walnut Gardens resort on Camby Road just west of Ind. 67 in 1923. The resort included swimming, picnicking, baseball and auto racing. Indianapolis Star file

Fountain Square in July 1925 was at the confluence of several different neighborhoods and, owing to rivalries between neighborhood children, was generally a good place for mischief and adventure. Indianapolis News photo